A senior police officer said both men were produced before a Bhiwandi court, which remanded them in police custody until July 30.
Mumbai: Following a three-week manhunt, the Thane Police on Saturday arrested the alleged mastermind behind the Teacher EligibilityTest (TET) paper leak, Bijendra Gupta, in Bihar along with his associate, Indrajit Singh. With these arrests, the total number of accused held in the case has risen to 14.
A senior police officer said both men were produced before a Bhiwandi court, which remanded them in police custody until July 30. Police are also searching for a few others in Maharashtra who allegedly agreed to purchase the leaked question papers.
According to the police, Gupta, the prime accused in the case registered at Kongaon police station in Bhiwandi, had been absconding since the paper leak came to light two days before the examination. Acting on technical surveillance, mobile location tracking, intelligence inputs and coordination with the Bihar Police, a special team traced and arrested Gupta and Singh in Patna.
“Gupta and Singh were taken to Hawai Adda Police Station in Patna before being flown to Pune early on Saturday. They were then brought to Bhiwandi,” the officer said.
The investigation has revealed that Gupta and Singh allegedly played a key role in leaking the TET question paper in conspiracy with previously arrested accused Dheeraj, Akash and Rajeev. Investigators are now probing the wider network behind the racket and attempting to identify other beneficiaries and conspirators.
The TET examination was scheduled for June 28. However, the leak was uncovered in Bhiwandi two days earlier after police received a tip-off that three persons had arrived in the city to sell the question paper. The trio was detained on June 27, and the question papers recovered from them were later confirmed to be genuine by the Maharashtra State Examination Council. The examination was subsequently postponed.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Bhiwandi Division-II) Pawan Bansode said, “So far, we have arrested 14 accused in the case. A few more arrests are likely as the investigation progresses.”
